Darwin

Barney

The 34-year-old former Gold Glove winner is now officially retired as a player. Barney was released by the Rangers during spring training in 2018 and failed to sign on with another club. He batted .246/.294/.341 with 31 home runs and 201 RBI over parts of eight major league seasons.

Barney felt a tug while taking batting practice and took the day off as a precautionary measure. The Cubs are calling the 26-year-old second baseman “day-to-day.”

The mild discomfort was never a major concern. Barney is 8-for-19 with three doubles and seven RBI this spring.

Barney beefed up in hopes of avoiding a second-half slump like he experienced last season. “I’m a little bit overwhelmed from watching him (while coaching in Milwaukee),” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “He’s a lot stronger and a lot quicker than I thought.” Barney batted .276/.313/.353 with two homers over 571 plate appearances for the Cubs last year but hit just .238 in the second half after a .306 mark prior to the All-Star break.

Barney collected two singles and an RBI double. He entered today’s action with a .264/.304/.377 batting line, but the three-hit day boosted him to .298/.344/.421 through 60 plate appearances. We’re not buying in standard mixed leagues, though.

Barney bulked up a bit over the offseason and is now batting .386 with seven doubles this spring. It’s encouraging, but we doubt he’ll be able to produce much, if any, mixed league value this season.

The three hit game raised Barney’s average to .300 on the season. While he doesn’t possess tremendous power or speed, he does still have value in fantasy leagues. He should continue to provide a decent average and solid run totals while hitting second in the Cubs lineup.

Barney figured to open the season batting eighth, but a strong spring in which he batted .404/.426/.649 overruled a pretty hideous final four months of last year. We’re skeptical that it will last. Barney projects as the Cubs’ worst hitter, and it just doesn’t make much sense to stick him between David DeJesus and Starlin Castro at the top of the order.

The 26-year-old second baseman is back to batting just .259/.306/.374 after a short burst of quality hitting last week. He’s not worth owning in standard leagues.

Fresh off their 12-game losing streak, the Cubs managed a sweep of the Padres at home. Barney was a big part of it, hitting two homers and collecting two doubles in the three games. Going into the series, Barney had a total of three career homers in 766 at-bats. The power surge figures to disappear as quickly as it came, but it was a welcome sight for Cubs fans.